Soft touch top cover and method of manufacturing

ABSTRACT

A composite finishing cover for a component such as a vehicle instrument panel is provided by extruding a parison of inner and outer layers of different recyclable plastics having different characteristics but which are from the same family of plastics. The parison is injected with low pressure gas when forming dies are being closed thereover so that the plastics will fully conform to the forming surfaces of the die tooling cavity. The closing force of the dies cause the heat softened inner layers of the first plastics material to join at their interface to form a relatively thick core or substrate providing structural support for the relatively thin and flexible outer layer of the cover, also joined at their interface. The outer layer provides a finishing surface that exhibits a soft feel as when the human hand lightly contacts and moves across the surface thereof. Importantly, in this invention the finishing cover can be readily recycled as a unit without the necessity of separating the different plastics layers from one another since they are from the same family.

This is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 08/521,764, titled soft touch top cover and method of manufacturing now abandoned, filed Aug. 31, 1995.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Prior to the present invention, finish covers for a wide variety of products have been made from different plastic materials layered or otherwise combined by various processes into desired shapes and finishes. For example, many modern vehicles have instrument panels with special top covers that provide different degrees of softness and tactile feel to meet customer requirements. In general three major processes and constructions are employed for such top covers as follows: (1) a "super soft" top cover made from a hard structural plastics retainer as a substrate or base, an intermediate polyurethane foam, and a roto--cast or slush molded vinyl outer skin, (2) a "soft" top cover generally comprised of a hard plastic retainer as a substrate and a bi-laminate vinyl skin that utilizes an expanded vinyl foam on the underside of the skin, and (3) a "soft touch" top cover that comprises a molded structural plastic as a base and with a top coat of "soft touch" paint applied thereto.

While each of these three processes provide desirable finishing covers and other like products, "super soft" top cover manufacturing involves relatively complex production procedures generally requiring special tooling for foaming the polyurethane and for the outer skin application. Furthermore, the aesthetic requirements of this process renders it the most costly of the three processes identified above. The "soft" top cover process is a time consuming and labor intensive method, particularly, since it requires the application of an adhesive to the skin and a thermoforming process to bond the components together. The "soft touch" top covers use a paint coating that is also labor intensive and generally compares cost wise with the "super soft" process. In any event, the plastics components of the "super soft" and "soft" covers are not from the same family of plastics materials so that separation of the different plastics is necessary since different procedures and solvents are used for recycling different plastics. Accordingly, recycling is difficult and expensive. This is also the case with the addition of the "soft touch" paint which introduces another incompatible material into the life cycle management of a "soft touch" cover.

In view of the above considerations and others of the following specification, an object, feature and advantage of this invention is to provide a new and improved process for producing a soft touch top cover of a plurality of different plastics materials but from the same family of materials to form a quality part with good interior support and desirable outer surface qualities which after completion of service life is readily and easily recyclable as a unitized part to provide improved life cycle management.

It is another feature, object and advantage to provide a new and improved soft touch top cover that has a "soft to touch" outer skin extending over and integrated with a relatively hard and rigid or semi rigid substrate providing a stabilizing base member.

Still another feature, object and advantage of this invention is to provide a new and improved outer cover and method to produce a multi layer cover of a plurality of different plastics materials that are from the same family of recyclable plastics material which are fused together and which can be readily recycled.

Another feature, object and advantage of this invention is to make a finishing cover of two or more layers of separate and different plastics materials from the same family of plastics which are compatible and recyclable. This allows the finish cover to be recycled as a unitized member without the necessity of separating the plastics layers from one another and handling them as different materials. In this invention, one of the cover components provides a relatively thick substrate for structural rigidity while the outer component layer is a relatively thin outer sheet with a textured outer surface providing a "soft feel or touch" sensation that one may experience when touching and rubbing their hand across the outer surface thereof.

In the preferred embodiment of this invention, a pair of plastics extruders are employed with a co-extrusion blow molding unit for producing a co-extruded parison formed of two different materials of the same plastics family. One extruder unit processes the base plastics material that is forced through a mandrel of a co-extrusion blow molding unit to form the core of the parison while an associated satellite extruder processes the finishing plastics material and forces it through the mandrel simultaneously to form the outer skin of the parison. When the parison has grown to a sufficient size and the molding tools are being closed, the end is pinched off and low pressure air is injected into the parison so that the parison can fully conform to the configuration of the mold cavity. The closure force of the tools when molding the parison into a final shape, such as a finished cover of one family of plastics, causes the heat softened inner layers of the parison to physically engage one another and fuse together. The outer layer or skin of the parison joins with the inner layers at the interface therewith during co-extrusion because of miscibility of the two materials. When the part is being formed in the molding dies, an air passage may be molded into the cover providing ducting for heat and air conditioning. The finished part when removed from the molds can be easily handled because of the structural support of the core while the outer skin provides for the required "soft feel".

These and other features, objects and advantages of this invention will become more apparent from the following detail description and drawing in which:

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is diagrammatic side elevational view of plastics extruders and co-extrusion unit extruding a parison of plastics material into a forming mold, shown in open position;

FIG. 2 is a pictorial view of a portion of the forming mold of FIG. 1 showing the mold in a closed position and the molding of a top cover;

FIG. 3 is a pictorial view of a portion of the formed part produced by the mold operation of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlargement of the circled portion of FIG. 3 showing the miscibility of the plastic layers forming the part of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a pictorial view showing the part in the form of an instrument panel top cover as installed in a vehicle;

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic side elevational view of plastics extruders and co-extrusion unit extruding a parison of plastics material into a forming mold, shown in open position;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of the forming mold of FIG. 6 with the parison therein;

FIG. 8 is a pictorial view of a portion of the parison of FIGS. 6 and 7 being pinched; and

FIG. 9 is a pictorial view of a portion of the formed part produced by the mold of FIGS. 6 and 7 and mounted on a supporting panel.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Turning now in greater detail to the drawings, there is shown in FIG. 1 a co-extrusion blow molding unit 10 which is supplied with a quantity of first thermoplastics material, such as high density polyethylene (HDPE) or polypropylene (PP) each filled with suitable minerals such as Talc or Mica by means of a primary plastics extruder 12. The extruder has a plasticating screw 14 that is fed with the first thermoplastics 16 in granular or powder form which is conventionally driven by an actuator 15. The plasticating screw 14 is rotated by the actuator 15 and pulsated in the injector housing to force heated plastics melt through the one-way valve 20 of the screw 14 onto an inner accumulator 22 of the co-extrusion blow molding unit 10. In the method or process of this invention this heated plastics material forms the inner layer 24 of a parison 26 extruded through the mandrel 28 of the unit.

In addition to the extruder 12, a second satellite plastics extruder 30 has a plasticating screw 32 operatively mounted within the extruder that is driven by an actuator 34. The extruder 30 and plasticating screw 32 is supplied with a different kind of granular or powder thermoplastics material 36, such as polyethylene based polyolefin elastomer (POE) or polypropylene based thermoplastic elastomer (TPO) which is of the same family of plastics as the first plastics material but has different characteristics.

The second injector unit 30 feeds heated plastics melt into an outer annular accumulator 40 of the accumulator head 42 of the co-extrusion blow molding unit 10. From the accumulator 40 the material in molten state is fed through the mandrel 28 in the end of the accumulator head to form the outer skin 31 of the parison 26. The parison is conventionally formed into an elongated tubular shape until it has sufficient material and can be blown to correspond to the closed cavity 48 of the mold tooling 50, 52, but shown in the open position in FIG. 1. Low pressure air may be blown into the parison through the center of the die head as the parison is being extruded to keep the parison distended and to prevent the parison walls from collapsing.

After the tubular parison has reached a predetermined length it is pinched off and pneumatically sealed at its outer end 53 by a conventional pinch-off not shown. The parison is extruded between the open mold halves shown in FIG. 1. The two mold halves are operated by the power cylinders 54, 56 to move the mold halves between open and closed positions. As the mold is closing, pressurized air is injected into the parison through air supply injector 60. This air may be injected into a centralized region 64 of the parison as air is exhausted therefrom through exhaust tube 62 appropriately sized or controlled to control the air pressure in the parison. Accordingly, the parison conforms to the cavity of the mold, as shown in the sectional view in FIG. 2. Pressure air can be terminated at any suitable time during molding and the interior opened to exhaust through tube 62. With this blow molding, an air conducting passage or duct 66 extending transversely within the molded part here forming a top cover 68 is provided.

As shown best in FIGS. 3 and 5, the molded top cover 68 has the interior layers 70, 72 forming an integrated high density substrate provided by the inner layer 24 or wall of the parison forced and fused together by the mold halves while the outer layer or skin 31 of the parison forms the peripheral or outer layer 74 of the top cover.

In FIG. 3, the top cover 68 is shown substantially finished with the outer layer 74 providing the "soft feel" show surface of the top cover. The relatively thin outer layer 74 interfaces as at 75 with the inner layers of the top cover, and since the plastics are miscible, they combine or join and securely bond together in this area.

In the event that different colors are employed, such a bright color for the outer layer and a dark color for the inner layer, the layers will be clearly distinct from one another, such as shown in FIG. 4. However, in the event that the layers are substantially of the same color, and with fused interfaces they will be difficult to discern from one another.

In FIG. 5, the molded top cover is installed on an underlying support in a vehicle as a cover for an instrument panel and is fastened to support structure 84 within the vehicle by suitable fasteners 86. As shown in dashed lines, an air blower 88 is provided which has an output 89 operatively connected to the transverse cross channel 90 formed by the blow molding operation of FIG. 2 to pump streams of air therethrough. With this construction, there is also improved acoustical performance and reduced vibrational noises, such as squeaks and rattles between the panel and its adjacent structures because of vibrating damping provided by top cover.

The substrate layers 70, 72 or base of the top cover is formed by the interior layer of the parison and being of the first dense plastics has substantial rigidity or is at least semi-rigid so as to provide good support for the outer cover. The outer cover preferably has low durometer and has a "soft feel" characteristics as when a person lightly touches and moves their hand across the outer periphery of the instrument panel. This "soft feel" does not necessarily include deformation of the top cover with or without memory or resilience but does include the tactile soft feeling of the cover when touched. Such "soft feel" is desirable for many applications, such as the top cover of the instrument panel as described, or other covered areas or interior components.

In this invention, recycling is enhanced since the instrument panel cover is a material of one family. More particularly, when the vehicle is being recycled, the panel can be removed from the interior of the vehicle and then shredded without the requirement of removing the finishing cover from the backing layer or base as previously required in prior art instrument panel covers. Accordingly, the outer and inner layers of the instrument panel can be fragmented and recycled and used as the substrate thermoplastics material 16 in FIG. 1 to be extruded as the inner layer 24 of the parison 26. The soft feel layer will be provided by material 36 as previously described. The recycled plastics material can also be readily used to make other suitable articles.

The core or substrate material suitable for this invention may be a high density polyethylene (HDPE) such as "Marlex" produced by Phillips Petroleum Co. Another suitable substrate material is a polypropylene such as "Escorene" or "Mytex" produced by Exxon. The skin can be made from polyethylene based Polyolefin elastomer (POE) such as "ENGAGE" produced by Dow Chemical, or polypropylene based thermoplastic elastomer TPO such as "Dexflex" from D & S or "Mytex" from Exxon.

FIG. 6 discloses another co-extrusion blow molding unit 100 which is similar in construction and operation as unit 10 with a primary plastic extruder 112 operatively driven by actuator mechanism 114 and fed with pellets of the first thermoplastics material 16. This material is preferably a high density polyethylene (HDPE) or polypropylene to provide desired interior physical properties of the cover being produced, such as tensile strength and stiffness. The unit 100 has a second plastics extruder 118 driven by an actuator mechanism 119 which is supplied with pellets of the second thermoplastics material 36, a polyethylene based thermoplastic elastomer such as thermoplastic polyolefin (POE) or TPO to form the "soft feel" skin or outer surface of the cover.

As in the first embodiment, the co-extrusion blow molding unit 100 is operated to melt the materials and extrude the multi-layered tubular parison 122 through a forming mandrel 124. The parison has inner and outer layers 126 and 128, respectively, of the different plastics materials 16, 36 which are joined at their interface by the miscibility of the two materials. After the parison is extruded, the outboard end is sealed off in an airtight manner so that the parison can be injected and expanded with low pressure air.

As shown in FIG. 6 and 7, the parison 122 is extruded between the tools or halves 130, 132 of a mold unit 134 moved between opened and closed positions by hydraulic motor mechanisms 136 mounted to a base or support 140. Mold half 130 has an air injector unit 142 with a retractable air injector needle 144 which is selectively supplied with low pressure air from a source 146 and with supply and exhaust controls 148.

In addition to the air injector unit 142 the mold unit has parison pinch-off mechanism 150 mounted therein having opposing parison pinch jaws 152 biased by springs 154 to an outer position. When the molds are moved to the closed position by the motor mechanism 138, the jaws will pinch the outboard end of the parison together in an airtight manner and seal the parison for subsequent injection of low pressure air (usually no higher than 100-150 psi).

As the mold further moves toward a closed position, the pinch jaws are forced outwardly against their springs 155 while still holding the parison closed as the air injector needle 144 is moved to a forward position so that it penetrates the parison wall and is positioned in the interior thereof. In this air inject position, low pressure air is fed into the parison so that it begins to inflate. On further movement of the mold toward a closed position, the low pressure air further expands the parison and holds it against the forming walls of the closing mold. When the mold reaches its closed position, the lower end 160 of the parison may be completely pinched off. At or near the end of mold closing, the needle 144 is opened to exhaust and air is accordingly released from the interior of the parison. The inner facing walls of the layers 126 contact one another and fuse under mold loads at their interface 162. The parison is accordingly molded into a unitized cover sheet 164, shown in FIG. 9. The needle is withdrawn and the formed cover removed from the opened mold. The cover has a desired "soft to touch" outer skin provided by outer layer 128 and the desirable tensile strength and rigidity with flexibility to augment cover installation is provided by the inner layer 126.

The cover may have a relatively constant thickness with multiple inner layers forced and joined together at their interface. The cover can be readily used as a finishing cover and mounted on a support structure 168 that forms a portion of a vehicle instrument panel 170.

While preferred embodiments and methods of the invention have been shown and described, other embodiments and methods will now become apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, this invention is not to be limited to that which is shown and described but by the following claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A unitized soft feel cover of a substantially constant thickness for finishing interior panels of an automotive vehicle comprising a support core of at least two flattened inner layers of a recyclable first plastic material, each layer being of a first thickness and disposed in a top and bottom relationship so as to have flattened interior surfaces in substantial full contact and fused to one another throughout the extent thereof, a flexible outer layer of a recyclable second plastic that is relatively thin with respect to each of said inner layers, said outer layer surrounding and in direct full contact with the outermost surfaces of said support core and integrally joined thereto at least at the interface thereof, said outer layer having an outer surface providing a soft feel to the physical touch thereof and being recyclable with said inner layers while all of said layers are joined together.
 2. A unitized soft feel cover for finishing panels in the interior of a vehicle comprising a substantially rigid support core of at least two flattened layers of a first plastic material disposed in a sandwiched relationship fully contacting and fully fused together at the interface thereof, and a flexible and thin cover layer of a second plastic material surrounding and in direct contact with the outermost surfaces of said core and miscibly fused therewith substantially throughout the entire interface thereof, said cover layer providing a soft feel to the physical touch thereof and being recyclable with said core while joined together. 